Japan: 6.1 Magnitude Earthquake Jolts Tokyo, No Injuries

A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.1 on the Richter scale shook eastern Japan including Tokyo on Wednesday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. There were no immediate reports of casualties. No tsunami warning was issued for the 9:05 p.m. (1205 GMT) quake, the agency said. The tremor also rattled buildings in Tokyo.

There were no reports about abnormalities at nuclear power plants in the region, including the crippled Fukushima Daiichi power plant, the operators said. East Japan Railway Co.’s some express train services were temporarily suspended due to power outages but later resumed.

Tokyo’s Narita International Airport was also briefly shut down for safety checks but later resumed operation.

The quake registered upper 5 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in Tokyo’s vicinities. The weather agency defines an intensity of upper 5 as strong enough to make most dishes in a cupboard and most books on a bookshelf fall. The focus of the tremor was off the coast of Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, at a depth of about 10 km, the agency said.

Earlier in the day, another strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 also shook off Japan’s northeastern coast, but no casualties or damages. Up to 20-centimeter tsunami waves were observed in the Pacific coast from the 6:09 p.m. (0909 GMT) quake.

Northeastern Japan was severely damaged on March 11 by a magnitude 9.0-quake and tsunami that left some 19,000 people dead or missing.